The Xbox 360 Media Revolution

One of the biggest launches this Holiday season isn’t going to be a physical one. The Xbox 360 2011 dashboard update brings in many changes not only from an aesthetic perspective but more importantly from an interactive perspective.

With millions of Xbox 360s around the world this dashboard update will mark the beginning of the Smart TV revolution. Devices like Apple TV, Roku, and Boxee have for years fought a long and hard battle to gain market share in this arena but the Xbox 360 already has a vast penetration and all Microsoft has to do is flip a switch and a the battle has been won. Of course for now the Xbox 360 is still going to be a very closed platform so there is still plenty of potential in Roku and Boxee to remain great alternative options for cable TV cord cutters.

Over the next year in 2012, we’ll see a true transformation of the Xbox 360 from a hardcore gaming platform into a mainstream entertainment hub. Best of all for non-gamers they won’t be forced into using the Xbox 360 to control this experience. Of course the Xbox 360 has its media center remote controller, but what is truly going to be amazing about this experience is using the Kinect as well as your Windows Phone to control the everything.

Using the Windows Phone as a touchscreen Xbox 360 controller:

On December 6, 2011 Xbox 360 owners will be able to download the free new update that will allow their Xbox 360 to be transformed into this new media hub. Also on the same day the Xbox Companion app will be released on Windows Phone 7 that will allow people to use the touch screen to control their Xbox dashboard.

But the revolution doesn’t stop there. Over the course of 2012, there will be new media apps and new ways that you can interact with your content. For example take the video below that shows the possibilities of mixing the Windows Phone with gaming on the Xbox 360.

Transfering your Kinectimals pet:

December 6, 2011 is going to be a day that marks a shift in how we consume and interact with media. We’ll be covering the launch and seeing whether or not it was worth the wait.

3 thoughts on “The Xbox 360 Media Revolution”

Hopefully they will release a “Kongregate App”..Aswell as utilizing one’s personal “Steam” account integration. The fun it’ll be to play various flash games as well as PC exclusives. I’m still annoyed though that consoles haven’t considered “RSS Feeds” applications. And a more quicker way of accessing various email accounts. Thus downloading emails to a console. Favorite emails could then be printed which would come in handy when using the internet to make an airline reservation or hotel reservation. I can imagine these apps “GMX mail, Gmail, YahooMail, OperaWebmail, AOLwebmail, & Hotmail. Which of course belongs to Microsoft. Finally I would love to see a “LastPass application” with Xmarks integration so that that any bookmarks & passwords I frequently use on my PC would be easily accessible on my XBOX 360 or PS3.
Hey thanks for allowing my comment wishing you Happy Holidays to you & all your friends & family. It’s really sad this year is nearly over. “December 13th 2011 @9:16am central time”.